Ravenheart Music: Interviews

CRYOSHELL INTERVIEW

Here is an interview with the amazing Danish band CRYOSHELL.

Hello guys and gal and it is great being given the chance to chat with you.You seem to be from what I have been told very stealth people - in other words low key or difficult to track down. Can you give us a brief history regards the band, its members and the link between yourselves and LEGO?
Well, Kasper and Mikkel had played together for a long time before Cryoshell when Lego called their advertising agency, Advance, asking for theme song for a campaign. Christian Faber from Advance recommended Mikkel and Kasper to meet up with Christine, and it proved to be a great match! We did Creeping in my Soul for LEGO with producer Eddie Simonsen, and we connected so well musically from the first time we worked together, that it was an obvious decision to stay together as a band.

Awesome! Are any band members involved in other musical projects you may like to tell us about?
Music is a passion for us all, and we a seek inspiration both individually and together. We have fun with other musicians from time to time, but only to get back to the unity of Cryoshell, which is our passion.

I downloaded your EP from iTunes a while back now, but the physical full length debut cd until now has been very difficult to track down, even though I myself was able to do so via Target Records in Denmark. Bearing in mind the awesome quality of music on offer, has there been any reason for this album being difficult to buy?
We found it challenging to find the right distribution setup. We have been negotiating with several distributors, and now, finally, we found “the Leaders” to collaborate with on this – which is already great!

I totally agree. And would you agree that having the debut being so difficult to purchase, does open the way for the record to be made available via dodgy unscrupulous download sites, which is very unfortunate?
Well, there might be connection between it. That being said, we think that there will always be someone somewhere who will share music through “dodgy” channels as you say. We saw that there was a demand for the music, and at a point we decided to give music for free to our fans, because it was not available all over the world.

I would imagine that the USA would fall in love with the album, and I think that those who have already heard the original self-released pressing would agree – would you?
Is is always difficult to know who will embrace the music, but we are so happy that there are already some dedicated fans un the US, even though the album has been hard to get in the hard copy version. The album is luckily available on both iTunes and spotify.

The Leaders Records from Greece has now come to the rescue and has re-released the record, how did the deal with them come about?
The Leaders were so dedicated, that it actually didn’t take us a long time to decide to work with them. They are doing some really good work, and we are excited to see the album being available to many more people.

And can you give us some information regards the two bonus tracks on the latest edition of the cd?
Tine Midtgaard (Tine Midtgaard Facebook) was working with us as a stand in when Christine was on maternity leave. Tine is quite awesome, so we thought it would only be fitting to share her work on the album.

Great stuff! For those unfamiliar with your style of music, how would you describe it?
We still like the taste of the word “Cinemascope-Rock”. Because we strive for the music to be inspired by both orchestral grandeur as well as metal inspirations. Symphonic rock, and even love metal has also been used to describe our music. We don’t care too much about the name of the genre, we care about how the music makes us feel.

Where was the album recorded and what was the recording process like?
We recorded the original album with Jacob Hansen at “Hansen studios”. He was brilliant to work with, and with his vast experience in the metal and rock genre, Jacob contributed a lot to the sound.

Do you know what the media reaction to the debut cd has been like so far?
We have had a lot of great reviews. Germany especially hasembraced the music, and as one of the reviews said: ”Heart-felt passion, faith in own abilities and a flair for hits - certainly something that separates the chaff from the wheat in today’s rock music. Cryoshell plays great cinemascope rock! Christine Lorentzen,Mikkel Maltha and Kasper Soderlund - this trio provides the backbone for an unconventional yet mass-appealing style, combining the ‘rough and edgy’ with timeless classic rock.”, which we feel very proud of.

Of course our release has not been backed up by a huge campaign, but we hope to reach more and more people, and now, with the help from The Leaaders, we are excited about how the album will be received by people who have not known it so far.

Can you tell us what the female fronted music scene by and large is like in Denmark?
Denmark has many strong female singers spread across the genres. And what is special about many of these is that they bring a lot of themselves and their personality to the music, which we think the individual sound much more interesting. Actually, it seems that more and more are entering the stage. Some of the really cool ones are, Pernille Rosendahl, Tina Dickow, Marie key, Quadron, Marie Fisker,

Would I be right in saying that Christine (Lore) has had a baby? If so my heartiest congratulations. I want to ask Lore if her musical ambitions have been put on hold due to the baby, and will we be seeing her again soon (and maybe the baby)?
I (Christine) have become a mom, which is a huge thing. It is the greatest thing one can experience, and of course I dedicate a lot of focus on my daughter. She will have to wait until she is old enough to decide for herself is her life is to have a public element or not though.

Musically, who or what are your inspirations at the moment, and what/who do you listen to when you are chilling out or relaxing?
We listen to A LOT of different stuff, in all genres too. I (Kasper) is very into acoustic music at the moment, especially Chris Thile and The Punch Brothers. I just love what these guys are doing, pushing the envelope of their particular genre, and the way they get away with at times extremely complex compositions without ever getting lost in technique. I (Mikkel) have an electronic phase at the moment. I listen to all kinds of 'artificial' music I can find. Like newer stuff such as Arnaud Rebotini and Holy Ghost! to classics like Harold Budd, Vangelis, Jan Hammer and of course Daft Punk and Kraftwerk.

And although the band seems to be very low key and dormant, is there a chance of another album in due course, or was the debut just a one off?
We would love to release another album. But it is not right around the corner. We are in a creative process, playing around with ideas and sounds, and we hope that it will result in an album.

It has been a real pleasure as I myself just love your album. Many thanks for the interview - is there anything you would like to say to readers of the Ravenheart Music website before we sign off?
You guys are the coolest. And Ravenheart is a special and dedicated place. Don’t forget to cherish dedicated and special things. And don’t forget to play. That is what is truly important in life …

Cryoshell's music is well worth checking out and we here at Ravenheart well recommend the album.